Braiding-machine.



B. S. F. ELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE1 G,1910.

LUZ 5 342. Patented 0015.14, 1913.

6 SHBETS-SHEET l B. S. 'r. 51.11..

BRAIDING MACHINE,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16,1910.

It $?5fil2. Patented Got. 14, 1913.

6 SEEETS-SHEBT 2.

BRAIDINC- MACHIE APPLICATION FILED JUNB16,1910.

Patented 0st. 14, 1913.

6' SHEETS-SHEET 8.

QIIIIIII B. S. F. ELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16,1910.

Patentedi 001;. 14, 1918.

6 SHEEN-SHEET 4.

g n M4 B. S. P. ELL.

' BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIG, 1910.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

6 SHEETS--SHEET 5v a. 7 1. 014 LS B. S. F. ELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1910.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

f-zezvesses 4 794 9%))79 0" 11in wire or the like. 10

entrain srarss BnnnEAnn s. r. ELL, or ENcELHoLr/i, s'w'nnnn.

IBBAIDIrIG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. ME, 1913..

Applicaticnfiled June 16, 1910. serial No. 567,231.

Thepnincipal objects of the invention are to' prcvide an improvedmachine for this purpose w liich, without any increase insise willoperate on" a much larger amount of thread,'a'nd at greater speed andwhich will do better. work. These results are accomplished in part byhaving two rows of spools for holding the thread rotating concentricallyiii opposite directions about the wire to be covered, one of the rowspreferably being ;above a plate or disk and the other below it,

spools up between the upper spools and reciprocating the threadsradially in order to cause the uppcr' spools to pass between thesuccessive lower threads alternately so as to form'the braided tubularfabric. In one form the upper spools slide'on circular guide and arepushed and pulled forward bya series of rotary shafts movable around ina circle. Thus all the parts rotate except the pipes for carrying andreciprocating the threads of the lower spools, which are carried backand forth by a rotating crank. The slack in the threads of the lowerspools is taken up by spring tension;

this dispensing with the ordinary weights and avoiding the speedlimitations imposedby such weights.

The invention also involves numerous features of construction and. modesof operation which will bereferred to hereinafter. Reference is to behad-tothe accompanying drawings'in wh-i'ch Figure 1 is a side-elevationof a machine constructed in accordance with this'in'vention; Fig. '2 isa lair of the machine. Figs.

showing the partsln two other positions.

Fig. -5 is"a central section. Fig-6 is an form' inwh-ich the inventionean be "em bodied. "Fig. 9 is a lanoff-the same with parts'rem'oved.Figsfi'iO and -lbare lane of the same showing the parts in 'di cre'ntpositions, and Fig. 12 is a section on the line 1212 of Fig. 9.

In the form'shown in the first seven figures the machine comprises aframelO having a centralvertical hollow guide or pipe through which thewire a to be covered passes from a reel below-and is wound over a reel12 above. This reel is operated in we'll-known manner by means of a wormand worm wheel connection li-Bdriven from a shaft i l and driving thereel through gearing. Power is app-lied through a clutch shaft 17whichis journaled on the frame and is provided wit-ha bevel'gear 18.'This gear meshes with two bevel gears 19 and to a vertical hollow shaft21, and the other to a hollow hub 22 'rh'tata'ble outside" the shaft 21.The hub 22is provided with a cirg il lld carrying the threads from thelower cular disk projecting frcm it and rotating with it. Projectingdown from this disk are a plurality of spindles or spool holders 2%spaced ecgnallyand' concentrically around the disk and eachcarrying aspool orbobbin 25 tenths-lower threads 6. The thread 2; passes from eachof these lower spools through-anguide 26 and from there through a threadcarrier 27. in passing to the thread carrier-*W'the thread passesunmember 31 located on the guideifi. It then passes-through: perforation32. "The member 31 is normally pressed upwardly by the s ring, but isheld down by the thread uner tension, 'but when the thread breaks thespring projects the member up into a position to engage an arm 33 on arod 34, as the disk rotates. This lifts a stop-piece 35 from engagementwith a hook on the ship ping lever 36 and permits a spring-'37 to ablemember of the clutch from the pulley 16. Thus the machine is stoppedwhenever a thread breaks.

Equally spacedaround the, center of th disk 23 are aseries of verticalshafts w mounted in hearings on the-disk On each of these shafts is anarm 41 connected by a link 42 with one of thethread. carriers '27.

on their axes in'a way-to be described heteinafter, and this causes thethread carriers to he simultaneously i reei'procated radially back andforth along radial guide slotslgw in As the disk rotates these shaftsare rotated pulley 16, or the like, located on a-driv'ing 20 on oppositesides, one of which-is fixed der aspring- 30'const'itutinga tensiondevice and through an eye in" a spring-pressed throw this lever out'anddisengage the movwhich fit slides 44 on which the carriers are mounted.Concentrically mounted on this disk also is a circular guide 45projecting upwardly therefrom, and having openings 43p registering withthe guide slots 43. On

th1s guide are mounted a plurality of stands stance twelve are shown oneach side. These spools preferably are universally wound as shown. Onthe tube 21 which as stated rotates in a direction opposite to therotation of the hub 22 is keyed a disk or plate 50 which carries aninternal spur gear 51 meshing with a series of pinions 52 mounted on theseveral shafts 40. The rotation of'the shafts on their own axes iscaused by the travel of the gear or rack 51 in an obvious manner..

' .The way in which the upper spools are caused to travel around so asto permit the carriers 27 to interweave the threads of the lower spoolswith the threads comin from the upper spools will now be describe Thedisk 50 has a downwardly extending flange 53 at its outer edge in whichare journaled a number of horizontal shafts 54 equal'to the number ofspools above the disk 23. On each of these shafts is agear 55 whichmeshes with a gear or rack 56 carried by the 'lower disk. Therefore therotation of the two disks in opposite directions will cause the shafts54 to rotate at the same speed as the shafts 40. On each of the shafts54 there is fixed a head 57 having a claw 58 at its outer end and havinga cut-away portion 59 located between the claw and the bearing of theshaft. The stands 46 are each provided at each end with a curved groove60 forming less than half a circle. These grooves are located on theinner sides of the stands and the stands are separated sufficiently farapart so that the two adjacent grooves are concentric and form a partof-the same circle. Therefore as each shaft 541 rotates the claw 58which is a distance from a center equal to the radius of the circle ofthe grooves, rotates in said circle. As these shafts 54 are bodilyrotating around the center of the machine with the disk 50 theirconnection with the stands will cause the stands to move around at thesame speed.

1 Each stand is pushed from behind by the following claw "i8 during aportion of its travel and not later than the time when this claw passesfrom the groove the receding claw will enter the front groove and pullthe The number of have passed inwardly and have been brought stand alongat the same speed so ti at they travel around the circle at a uniformspeed. From a consideration, particularly of the plan views Figs. 2 and3, it' will be seen that as the two disks rotate in opposite directionsstarting for instance with each carrier 2? in the outermost position, asshown in Fig. 2, the upper series. of spools will be pushed alongrelatively to the carriers in the direction of the outer arrow shown inFig. 2, at the same time the carriers will be moving inwardly. By thetime the upper spools have passed from the position shown in 2 to thatshown in Fig. 3 the carriers w l have passed inwardly to theirintermediate position as shown in Fig. 3. Then from the time that theupper spools pass from that position along to thenext osition similar tothat shown in Fig.-2, t e carriers will to the opposite sides of thespools. During the next complete half cycle of the spools the carrierswill have moved outwardly a complete stroke on the other sides ofthespools. In this way it will be seen that each carrier can be conslderedas having traveled. half way around .one spool and half way around thenext one in the other direction, and that the threads from the lowerspools will be interwoven with the threads-from the upper spools. Forthe purpose of mitting this operation to take place the head on whichthe claw 58 is mounted is rovided with a cutaway portion 59 as has eende.- scribed. This is shown as'cut-away on the arc of a circle to permitthe. carrier 2'? to pass by it as the head rotates as shown in theposition illustrated in Fig. 3. The upper spool holders, are shown asprovided with bottom plates 61 having such shapes that the. carriers 27just clear their edges during this operation. From a consideration ofthe two inclined strands of the thread 5 andc Fig. 5, it will be clearthat there is no great difference in the tension of the thread in its dierent positions, but what there is, is taken care of by the tensiondevice. 1

The upper spools are provided with a stop motion constructed as follows:The needles 49 are arranged concentrically with the up- 135 per spools.The thread is taken from each of the upper spoolsto the needle 49through an eye 65 from which the thread extends upwardly over a surface66 nearly on the level of the eye of the needle 49. The eyes 65 andsurface 66 are mounted on the needles. Within each needle is a weight 68having a hook $9 at the top passing over the and supported thereby. Whenth'tl'ilfi breaks this weight drops as far at .a slot- 70 in the needlewill permit. This hrings.v the lower end of the weight into the path ofa lever 71 pivoted on the lower' disk..- This lever normally is held bya spring in position for its\tooth- 78 to engage a 33g garies the leverscribed hereinafter.

spring-pressed bolt 74: and hold it back. When the lower end of theweight 68 en- V I and swings it on its pivot, this withdraws the tooth73. and allows the spring to pressthe bolt out into position to engagethe arm 33 which causes the same action as described in connectionWitlrt-he other stop motion.

In the form of the invention shown in the rest of the figures the upperspools are not supported or guided by the lower disk; 230, but arecarried by elements rotating with the "upper disk 500. Otherwise the twodisks are the same as before and Operate in the same manner. In. thiscase however the disk 230- is provided an external gear orrack 80, shownas having the same pitch diameter as the internal gear 510', andprovided with openings for the shafts 40.

With this gear mesh a plurality of pinions 81 on studs 811 which in turnmeshwith pinions 82. The pinions 82 are mounted on shafts 83 carried bythe upper disk on which shafts are fixed disks 84 and 85 to jectingupwardly therefrom, and the lower. disks 8;? are provided with a similarcon centric circular lower rib 89., Theseribs of course are interruptedby the slots 87 which have been referred to. lThese disks are rotatedconstantly at the same speed on their own-axes as the main disks travelaround and they are so placed that the slots 8'4" on two adjacent diskscome into registration the twodisks rotate. i

Each of the plates 610 on which the up per spools are mounted isprovided with a pair of plates 90-9l which are provided wih segmentalgrooves 92 for receivlng the ribs 88 and These plates are so placed thatthe adjacent grooves in two adjacent pairs of plates are on the arc ofthe same circle. Consequently, as the disks 8d and 85 rotate on theirown axes, their ribs rotate in a circle keep within the segmental slotsin the plates 90 and 91. In this way it will be seen that the plates 610are held in a certain definite positionwvith' respect to the upper mainrotating disk and are carried around withit. This disk is provided withrecesses 93 in its edge from which the plates 610 are spaced. laterallythroughout the perimeter of the same. These spaces between the edges;cit-these recesses and "*latea are wide enough to. receive the three carriers, 27. Asthe thread carrier is reeiprocated, the plates travel in a.circle supported by the disks 84a and 85 and when the thread carriercomes back to intersect the circumferences of" these rotating disks, the

' notches or slots 8'? coincide with each other and receive the threadcarriers so as to allow them to pass through these disks on the way backtoward the center of the main' disk. After having passed back inwardlyto the end of the stroke in this direction the thread carriers startoutwardly again and on the way out they pass through the o posite slotsor notches in the rotating .isks 84c and 85.: The particular shape ofthese slots and nhtches andltiming of the gearing is not described infull herein as it will-be understood that these things are designed inaccordance with the necessities of. the case to allow of the motionsabove described and the drawings show a practioable form thereof. Inthis case as in the other, the plates 610' are designed of such 95;outline that the thread carriers always travel closely adjacent to theirouter edgesand. there is only a very little clearance between them, thisclearance being uniform. These plates could be round or any other shape95 but they are designed in this way to prevent operators getting theirfingers caught in the machine and to preventthe deposit of waste belowthese surfaces.

In both forms the above described advan- 1 tages are attained, and therelative motions of the thread carriers and upper spools are the same.The stop motions preferably are used on both forms. p

While lf have illustrated and described two 05 preferred embodiments ofthe invention I am aware that the inventioncan be embodied in many otherforms within the scope of the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to belimited to all the details of construction shown and described, but

What I do claim is 1. In a machine of the character described, thecombination of a shaft and hub mounted to rotate on the same axis, inopposite directions, a series of shafts parallel with the axis of saidshaft and hub and rotatable with the hub, means for rotatlng said seriesof shafts on their axes, a series of thread carriers, means connectedwith said 129 shafts'and rotatable about the shaft for reciprocating thethread carriers radially, a series of spools rctatable with the hub, asecond series of spools, a series of shafts perpendicular to the axis ofthe hub rotatable withthe first named shaft, and means mounted onthelast named shafts for moving the second series of spools.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair ofdisks 13o rib rotatable in opposite directions, a series of shafts oneach disk, each shaft having means thereon for receiving a rotary motionfrom the other disk, a series of thread carriers movably mounted on oneof the disks and connected with the shafts thereon to be reciprocatedradially thereby, a series of spool carriers mounted to rotate with thedisk on which the thread carriers are mounted, a second series of spoolholders, and means on the shafts on the other disk for moving said spoolholders with thatfdisk.

In a machine of 'the character described, the combination of a pair ofdisks rotatable in opposite directions, a circular rack on each disk, aseries of shafts on each disk, each shaft having a pinion thereonmeshing with the rack on the other disk, a series. of thread carriersmovably mounted on.one of the disks and connected with the shaftsthereon to be reciprocated radially thereby, a series of spool carriersmounted to rotate with the disk on which the thread carriers aremounted, a second series of spool'holders, and means on the shafts onthe other disk for moving said spool holders with that disk.

4;.-In a machineof the character described, the combination of a shaftand hub mounted to rotate on the same axis, means for rotating saidshaft. and hub in opposite directions, a series of shafts parallel withthe axis of said shaft and-hub' and rotatable with the hub, means forrotating said series of shafts on their axes, a series of threadcarriers, means connected with said shafts and rotatable about the shaftfor reciprocating thread carriers radiall a series of spools rotatablewith the hub, a-second series of spools, a circular rack carried by saidhub, a series of shafts perpendicular to the axis of the hub rotatablewith the first named shaft, gears thereon. meshing with said rack, andmeans mounted on the last named shafts for moving the second series ofspools.

5. In a braiding machine,-the combination of a rotary set of spoolholders arranged in a circle, a second set of spool holders arranged ina circle concentric therewith, a rotary member adapted to rotate on thesame axis as the first named set of spool holders and in the oppositedirection, a series of members carried by said rotary member and eachrotatable on its oWn axis, and having means for carrying the second setof spool holders around with them, a series of thread carriers movableradially, said series of memhers each having a passage through which athread carrier can pass, and means for bringing said passages intoposition to re-' ceive the thread carriers when the thread carriersapproach the In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

BERNHARD S. F. ELL. Witnesses:

ALBERT E. FAY, C. Fomms'r WESSON.

